Minnesota

Anti-choice zealot Randall Terry, the founder of Operation Rescue, is keeping his promise to recruit his followers to run as candidates for office in order to use a loophole in election law that allows them to air lurid ads against abortion. After running a delegate candidate in Washington D.C. last year, Terry recruited a primary challenger to Speaker John Boehner and is himself running against President Obama in the Democratic presidential primary.

Now, Terry acolyte Gary Boisclair has announced a primary challenge to Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison. Andy Birkey of the Minnesota Independent notes that Boisclair, who hasn't lived in Minnesota since 2003, donned a chicken costume to protest the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan:

Bosclair’s campaign against Ellison won’t just focus on the congressman’s pro-choice views, but also on his Muslim faith. Terry had his own campaign to destroy copies of the Quran, and Bosclair is putting Ellison’s religion front and center in his latest ad:

UPDATE: YouTube removed the ad "as a violation of YouTube's policy on shocking and disgusting content" and the Boisclair campaign has now posted it on the Media Research Center's MRCTV. 

Boisclair states:

It is common knowledge that Ellison is proud to publicize his devotion to the writings contained in the Koran.

This TV ad references several verses in the Koran which call for violence against Jews and Christians.

The call to violent acts against Christians and Jews within this ‘holy’ book should alarm every American. The fact that a U.S. Congressman swore an oath on a book that calls for most of us to be persecuted is an outrage.

The Koran is a pillar in Islam’s ‘Sharia Law,’ which is a comprehensive code of ethics governing both the private and the public behaviors of all ‘good’ Muslims. Sharia law— as seen in dozens of Muslims nations—leads to the oppression of its non-Muslim citizens, and the loss of fundamental human rights for all.

The fact that Ellison swore an oath to uphold the Constitution on a book that would destroy the Constitution is as ludicrous as it is absurd.

We did not pick this fight; Islam’s war against Christianity and human liberty has raged against us for 1400 years. We are merely responding with the truth.

Andy Birkey of the Minnesota Independent reports that House Republicans invited ultra-right wing anti-gay, anti-Islam activist Bradlee Dean to deliver the morning prayer ... and it went about as well as one would expect:

Minnesota House Republicans invited anti-gay preacher Bradlee Dean of You Can Run But You Cannot Hide to give the morning prayer. The prayer was so offensive to many legislators that House leadership brought in the chaplain to redo the prayer.

Dean has made many controversial statements as pastor of You Can Run, including advocating the incarceration of gays and lesbians, that the LGBT community is trying to usher in Sharia law in Minnesota, that gay men molest an average of 117 children “before they get caught,” and that Muslim nations that execute gays are more moral than American Christians. His prayer on Friday touched off a firestorm at the Capitol as the LGBT community was rallying outside the House chambers against a proposed anti-gay marriage amendment.

Dean said during his prayer, “I know this is a nondenominational chamber,” he said listing off a litany of Christian denominations and leaving off any mention of Judaism.

Then he took a dig at President Obama, insinuating that he is not a Christian. “The head of the denomination is Jesus as every president up until 2008 has acknowledged, in Jesus name.”

Dean and his You Can Run But You Cannot Hide ministry has the support of Rep. Michele Bachmann and Religious Right leaders like Harry Jackson and Bryan Fischer.

UPDATE: Here is Dean's opening prayer:

Likely presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich are slated to address the Minnesota Family Council’s annual “Reconnecting Faith, Family and Freedom” fundraiser. Andy Birkey of the Minnesota Independent reports that the event will “be held May 17 at the Minneapolis Hilton. Tickets are $100.” In the invitation, Gingrich lauds the MFC for “vigorously defending our God-given freedom in our communities, schools, at the Capitol and the ballot box” and asks people to “join me and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann in rediscovering God and the vital role of faith and family in our American freedoms.”

The MFC is the state’s leading Religious Right group and has increasingly become one of the most strident opponents of anti-bullying bills. Tom Prichard, the MFC’s president, maintained that LGBT youth commit suicide because they live an “unhealthy lifestyle” and that anti-bullying programs are ways to have children “indoctrinated in homosexuality.” Prichard also criticized Gay Straight Alliances, saying “it’s sad and harmful for kids to celebrate homosexuality when in fact it’s not a healthy lifestyle;” he went on to claim that Matthew Shepard’s murder wasn’t a hate crime and that his “death served an important ideological purpose for homosexual activists.”

The MFC’s Barb Anderson told anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera that “the greatest threat to our freedom and to the health and well-being of our children is from this radical homosexual agenda which is just so pervasive” and that she considers it “a badge of honor to be called a hate group.” Anderson also blamed supporters of gay rights for school bullying, saying that they “are the ones that are contributing to an atmosphere that can even increase bullying as more kids get into this kind of a lifestyle” and that “homosexual behavior is one of the most hazardous behaviors that kids could get into and start practicing.”

Anderson also warned of “targeted” students and that “pro-gay training[s]” are coming “like a tsunami.” In January, the organization hosted a legislative summit with pseudo-historian David Barton featuring courses on “Bullying bills: The homosexual agenda in your child’s public school.”

There are few Religious Right leaders active today who can compete with the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer in terms of openly hostile bigotry against gays, Muslims, and all those who do not share his radical worldview:

So it is bound to raise a few eyebrows that former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty went on Fischer's radio program yesterday to promote his new book ... but it won't raise any eyebrows that Fischer used the opportunity to grill Pawlenty on social issues or that Pawlenty largely shared Fischer's right-wing concerns:

Fischer: If you are asked the question "should CPAC provide a place at the table for an organization like GOProud," what will you say?

Pawlenty: You know, I am not familiar with that dispute, I have heard it referenced ... but I'm not just a fiscal conservative, I'm a social conservative so I can't speak for CPAC but I can speak for myself and what I believe and I've been a strong supporter of the family, pro-life positions, traditional marriage positions - so I'm not sure what that dispute all involves. But whatever it is, I don't think we should be afraid of telling what I believe and what we believe to whatever audience. We're trying to make sure we stand what what we believe in and we share it in a way that will hopefully bring more people to our side.

Fischer: Now the Left, and homosexual activists and organizations like GOProud, one of their stated agendas is to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law that defines marriage in federal law and for federal purposes as a union of one man and one woman. The Obama administration has made a tepid and pretty ineffective defense of that law - if you become president and that law faces a challenge under your administration, how vigorously will you defend DOMA? What will you do to make sure it's defended?

Pawlenty: I believe strongly in traditional marriage. I was co-author of the law in Minnesota that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. I've been a vocal supporter of an amendment in Minnesota that would put that into our constitution. I hope that the day comes when it is put before the voters of Minnesota. And it's not just a legal issue; it's also an important cornerstone for our society and our culture. I mean, families and traditional marriage is so important to that and I don't believe all other domestic relations should be on the same platform as traditional marriage, I just don't buy and so I've been a strong supporter of traditional marriage. I also think who you appoint to courts in this regard is important and we don't have litmus tests, so to speak, but we want strict constructionists and people who take a conservative view toward the interpretation of our laws.

Fischer: Now Roe v. Wade is obviously the critical court ruling on the abortion issue - that is a ruling that was issued in 1973 so it seems to me that candidates would have the freedom to comment on whether they thought potential nominees to the Supreme Court, would have the freedom to comment on whether they thought Roe v. Wade was properly decided from a constitutional perspective. A number of sitting Supreme Court justices have commented on the fact that they believe it was poorly decided. So that's going to be a critical issue, if you have the opportunity to appoint nominees to the federal bench - will you talk explicitly with a nominee to the federal bench about his or her view about whether they think Roe v Wade was properly decided from a constitutional basis, will that be in the nature of a litmus test for you, that question, will you bring it up, will you look for an answer?

Pawlenty: Well, I've appointed a lot of judges as the Governor of Minnesota, including at our Supreme Court, appellate court and district court level. For the first time, at least in the modern history and maybe in a long time we now have a small majority of people on our Minnesota Supreme Court we are conservative and strict constructionist. I have confidence in them and how they would approach these issues of how you interpret the law. On the specific issue of Roe. v Wade, when you tell people or ask people to be strict constructionist and you look at the Constitution, to have people say "I'm a strict constructionist" would somehow lead to a decision or a conclusion like Roe v. Wade, I think it was wrongly decided. And if you look at the reasoning behind it and the strict interpretation approach to interpreting the Constitution, I think Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided by the Court. But I have been careful that I appoint people, particularly at the appellate level, that share this strict constructionist philosophy - that at least says to me directly - I didn't have litmus test - but I do want to know that they share my view and values about the proper role of the court and the interpretation of the law, so we try to get to the bottom of that.

Fischer: One last question, got about forty five seconds left, put you on the hot seat one more time: we just saw the ban on homosexual service in the military repealed, overturned. Conservatives will be working over the next couple of years to see that that ban is reinstated. If you become president in 2012, will you work to reinstate the prohibition on open homosexual service in the military? Would you sign such a prohibition if it got to your desk?

Pawlenty: Bryan, I have been a public and repeat supporter of maintaining Don't Ask, Don't Tell. There's a lot of reasons for that, but if you look at how the combat commanders and the combat units feel about it, the results of those kinds of surveys were different than the ones that were mostly reported in the newspaper and that is something I think we need to pay attention to. But I have been a public supporter of maintaining Don't Ask, Don't Tell and I would support reinstating it as well.